


Conquest

by PaintedRoman



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:20:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22903069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaintedRoman/pseuds/PaintedRoman
Summary: Waverly Hughes is your typical studious college student. She does her coursework, hangs out with her friends, attends the occasional party...oh, and once a month she turns into a wolf-like humanoid and howls at the full moon. What's even better, is there was an attack at a party (that she did not attend) and the police are searching the woods for a monster when she wakes up out there from her monthly change.This is still a rough draft, it has some choppy areas that I still need to smooth out. *Very Incomplete*
Comments: 5
Kudos: 1





	1. Rollcall

THE KING

Hans went through the numbers one more time only to let out an exhausted sigh. There was no way to keep up with the resort’s utilities until next season and pay what few employees he had left. They needed more business this season to make it through the summer or he’d have to sell.

A solemn voice from the TV in the front room cut through Hans' concentration with a proclamation of 'breaking news'. He wandered out of his office and down the hall, the hardwood cold enough to feel through his socks.The newscaster didn’t wait for him to get to the front room.

“-trying to dismiss the evidence, but with all of the videos on the web, whoever was trying to keep this under wraps justin couldn’t keep up with this many cell phone cameras. We have Rebecca live at the scene with more for you now.”

There was an annoyingly long pause as the screen switched to the reporter. “Thank you, Tom. Right here outside Silver’s bar in Parkvale, less than eight hours ago, something happened straight out of a horror film. Last night a party of university students were priming their livers for spring break when one of them turned into what witnesses are calling a ‘werewolf.’”

“Oh, hell.” Hans breathed out as she continued.

“The alleged shapeshifting student killed four of his fellow peers before fleeing into the woods outside of town. Injury reports are still coming in, most of them concerning scratches and whether or not anyone else will turn into a beast. Officials are saying they now have the situation under control. The FBI are on scene assisting the local police with the quarantine of attack victims, until further notice, and to help track the killer. The footage-”

Hans shut the TV off in a huff and grabbed his phone. He dialed a number and waited as it rang before it was answered with a drowsy, “Yeah?”

“What were you doing last night?” Hans questioned sternly.

THE QUEEN

A breeze blew through the woods gently in the morning air. Waverly stirred in the brush that she nestled herself into during the night. She stretched up with a yawn and looked around to see where she had ended up this time. Judging by the mountains she was west-ish. She stood and made her way east, her clothes should still be in their hiding spot near town.

There was a strange scent in the air, faint but strange. She couldn't place it. As she walked, she heard barking a few miles away. Dogs, and people too. Lots of people. What are they all doing out here? Is there some kind of event I didn't hear about?

Wave suddenly felt panicked. If she had learned anything from her newly refined senses, it was to trust her instincts. She broke into a run, her feet carried her like she was weightless. She wondered who or what they were looking for...or if someone saw her. 

She upset a family of chipmunks close to one of the trees and felt terrible for startling the poor things. She otherwise had a smooth trip until she approached a spread out group of cops.

Is this a search party? 

Wave scurried up a tree before anyone could have seen her. She froze on the middle branches, praying nobody would think to look up as they passed. She was fairly well hidden, but could be spotted from the base of the tree if someone were to investigate.

One of the dogs seemed curious about her tree for an uncomfortably long moment. Something hit the ground behind her, thankfully stealing its attention. She silently breathed out in relief. The search party passed her slowly. It felt like ages while she waited for them to get a good distance away. Once they were about a half mile out, she climbed down and resumed her route to the hiding place.

Arriving at the hollowed out tree, she eagerly reached inside only to find wood chips and some dirt. Her stash of clothes were gone. Great.

After taking a deep breath to distinguish all of the scents in the air she couldn't pick them out with that (decidedly unpleasant) smell lingering in the air. Whatever it was it couldn't be very close, but she developed another discomfort. Something felt off.

Looking up in the trees she didn't see anything, but couldn't shake the feeling. Upon closing her eyes, there seemed to be something missing in the space around her, nothing where there should be something - a void?

She opened her eyes and turned to focus on the abnormality. Glowing eyes met hers among the branches of a tree and she covered herself with her hands as best she could. 

The figure’s head tilted to the side.

"Who- What are- What do you want?" Wave stammered.

The figure tossed her a bag that she caught over her breast. It had her clothes in it! Something was scribbled on it in sharpie. 

An evidence bag?

The figure leapt to another tree, a long tail trailed behind them.

"Wait!" She exclaimed. 

They kept going without missing a beat. She ripped into the bag and grabbed her shirt as she chased them. Wave dropped the rest in order to pursue the figure from the ground; fighting to put on clothes didn’t make running any easier. Her right sleeve was twisted so her arm couldn't get through but there was no time to stop and fix it, so when its path took it to a lower branch she seized the opportunity to jump up before even thinking about what she was doing.

"Hey!" Wave yelled when she collided with them, grabbing their forearm with her usable hand. If she was going to fall out of the tree she was taking them with her.

They stopped and turned to her, balancing them both by grabbing onto a branch with their other hand. She didn't let go of them when they tried to pull away. She found a good place to wedge her leg so she didn't fall if they did manage to escape her hold.

Now that she could see them clearly, she first noticed his wide mouth that was all sharp crooked teeth with no lips. He had pale skin, pointed ears and white hair that continued down along his jawline. Scars littered his face, which lacked a nose; the worst one was on his right cheek and cut up into his eye. Perhaps the injury was the reason it was pure white, for the other eye was a light blue. The most unusual thing about him was how normal his clothes were. However, his feet were bare and clawed like his hands. He looked like a monster. A monster whose eyes just narrowed into a glare.

She finally fought her other arm through the sleeve and found her voice. “Do you know what's going on? With all the police I mean..." 

The man-beast looked a bit confused then. Perhaps he didn't understand her? 

He went to turn back to his route, but Wave tightened her grasp around his arm. He looked at her hand and then at her again. 

She was staring at his tail that whipped about. "What are you?" She whispered mostly to herself.

"Busy." He said in a scratchy voice when he forcefully pulled his arm away. Once freed he disappeared higher into the trees.

She didn't chase him this time. Really she couldn't...

What was I thinking!? That could have definitely gone terribly… or better...

Wave quickly headed back to the city, making sure to grab the rest of her clothes on the way. The rancid smell was still in the air. It had not grown particularly stronger or weaker since she started heading back. Unanswered questions churned in her head. Who and what was the creature that apparently steals evidence bags? Should she tell someone about him? How many other 'mythical' creatures are real besides werewolves? And what was the entire town’s police force and friends doing out in the forest?

And also, what could possibly smell so bad?

THE HEIR

Liam covered his head with the blankets, shielding his eyes from the light sneaking through the curtains.

His dad sure seemed upset over the phone; said something about murder and the college town. Liam hadn't even been hanging out there the past few months. He sounded like he was accusing him of being involved somehow. Sure, Liam was irresponsible, even reckless sometimes, but he never hurt anyone. He didn't really run with any pack and hadn't even turned anyone. Ever. Not that his father would know, they don’t exactly chat much anymore.

He sat up slowly and pinched the bridge of his nose. The rush in his head from sitting up on top of the light from outside were giving him a splitting headache. Hangover. He pulled his pants on and shuffled out of the bedroom into the kitchen of his apartment, nearly tripping on an empty whiskey bottle along the way.

Living alone was nice on nights like last night. He didn't have to sneak out like when he had roommates. Being a werewolf sucked sometimes, but Liam had it down pretty good since he was a teenager. He always made it home before his skin turned inside out... figuratively.

His claws scratched up the front room pretty well, and he remembered stumbling around the house a while before he passed out; too much alcohol for the beast to handle. Too much for him too, honestly, but it was an effective method to keep him out of trouble in the city. The wolf wants to run, unless it's dizzy. He’d have to see if his uncle wouldn't mind helping him get the place looking less chewed on… again. He needed a better way to incapacitate himself if he was going to stay at home for the change.

Liam opened the fridge, it was empty aside from a few condiments. He sighed and found a clean glass to fill with water. He then retreated back to the living room, stepped over the bottle, sat on the slightly shredded couch and flicked on the TV. The news was running so he changed the channel. The news was on the crime show channel too. He changed it again; same news. History channel? Nope, news...

He sighed and watched the news.

THE ROOK

Addie caught back up to the police. They were still focusing their search in the wrong direction. There were many smells out in the woods today; it was to be expected after the full moon. He could tell the handful of search dogs weren't sure which scent to follow. Too many scattered throughout the area. The man dressed like a civilian seemed to be in charge. He might have to lure them the right way, for most of the dogs kept following the trail of the small pack of three from last night… in reverse.

The human law enforcement has never dealt with a werewolf problem directly before. There's bound to be some ruffled feathers, or rather fur, when they catch the killer. They could start an uproar if they catch the wrong wolf and accuse them of murder while the real killer got away in the chaos. First contact was important; two worlds that overlap, meeting for the first time in a very public way. That's a problem for later, though.

The search party from parkvale was heading towards missoula and missed the route to their killer completely. He could taste the blood of the killer from his perch in a tree above a group of officers. It was tainted in some way, almost like... nevermind. 

But there was something suspicious about this whole situation.

The mixed scent of two individuals danced over his tongue. They were too close to the police for him to get near without being seen. They are likely to be suspects, but he figured the police could expect finding a young couple or two outside and naked anywhere young people congregated. There was also a loner a quarter mile ahead. Addie would make sure they got around the search. Hopefully this one wouldn't see him. It was his own fault though, being careless enough to get noticed in the first place.

THE KNIGHT

Agent Larkin Hughes was supposed to be on vacation, but he just had to poke his nose in the thick of things. Long story short, the MPD Sheriff 'officially' asked him to help out with the bizarre call for help from a nearby town. He just had to volunteer. It sounded like quite an interesting case at first, but it was really just a bad idea to get involved.

He hated searches. If no one finds a lead the first time through it's a lost cause because anything that might have been overlooked probably got trampled. Not to mention the potential evidence that has been disappearing at an alarming rate. All the bags of blood samples and fur/hair evidence from the crime scene are still back at the station... probably. But the three seemingly random stashes of clean clothes they bagged have disappeared without a trace shortly after they were found. There's apparently a ghost in the forest with a clothes fetish. He would have suspected someone in the police of a practical joke, but he was in possession of the second bag of clothes when it vanished into thin air. This case was getting stranger by the hour.

The strange findings (that disappeared) would suggest that there are at least three people in this who conceal spare clothes in the woods; a male and two females, judging by the attire, though no bodies alive or dead have been found. Hughes humored the thought that maybe there is a werewolf pack; if the creatures are in fact real. Hopefully they find some sort of trail soon or they might not have enough information to continue this search outside of the forest. All they really know is the gender of the killer: male. Even that might not be accurate, since only one witness said ‘he’ instead of ‘the monster’ or some other variation. The videos caught on cellphones were no real help.

The police from the small town were nervous about the situation which lead him to believe this wasn't some run of the mill joke. This was either an elaborate hoax of a performer in a really good costume or werewolves were real. Either way it will be an interesting case to explain to the press... and his superiors. He was fairly certain it was the former but the latter nagged at his sleep deprived brain.

If they are real then maybe I'm right about a ghost stealing the clothes. How would I know? Ghosts technically don't exist either. Man I need coffee...

One of the officers in the distance to his right yelled something out to the others nearby. Hughes jumped into a brisk jog over to him along with a few others within earshot. As he got closer he saw a young couple sitting on the ground. They had been given blankets and water by the officer that found them. They were dressed light, not to wake up in a forest on a chilly spring morning.

"You two should be careful, there's a suspect out here. Should head back home as soon as possible." Said the officer standing over them.

Hughes pulled the officer to the side and asked him his name.

"MaCarthur, Dave MaCarthur."

"MaCarthur, please don't tell our only potential witnesses and suspects to go home. We need to do this by the book; the nature of this case requires it." Hughes explained.

"They're just some young lovers that didn't see or hear anything, I already asked them. I didn't think they would be suspects."

"Everyone's a suspect. We still don't know what we're dealing with here. Our killer was just a student yesterday." Hughes looked over at the two wrapped in blankets. They looked petrified. "Could even be more than one person behind this. Tell them they'll need to come to the station for further questions once they're dressed."

"Yes, of course. Whatever you say, Fed." MaCarthur walked back over to the young couple and told them they would need to stop by the station later.

Some small town cops I swear...

Hughes closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He let out a sigh and headed back to his section in the search line.

THE BISHOP

Cindy hadn't realized she was clenching the remote so tightly until the battery cover popped off and clattered onto the floor. She stared at it for a moment then turned off the TV. 

Leave it to a werewolf to let the mythical cat out of the bag.

"Mom?" Eric stumbled down the stairs and stood before her. He had a fist filled with shreds of his nightshirt, the other was clenching his cellphone. Tears threatened to fall from his bloodshot eyes. "I-I think-"

"Oh, Honey." She said calmly, opening her arms. He fell into them, crying into her chest.

He was shaking in her embrace. "I think I k-killed people, and f-forgot." He spoke with a cracked voice between sobs. "M-my friends texted me a-and-" He breathed in sharply.

"No, Baby, you didn't kill anyone." She comforted him, stroking his wild dark hair down against his head. He pulled his face out of her chest and wiped his nose and eyes with the remainder of his sleeves. "You didn't leave your room last night, I would have heard."

"I-it was s-strange; time was jumpy. And I wanted to run, but I d-didn't want to wake you... I remember playing Pokémon for a bit." He looked into her eyes. "Call of D-duty was too hard with claws."

She couldn't help but let out a laugh. He did too, shakily though. She pulled him back in for a hug as they giggled. "I appreciate the thought, but it's good for a wolf to run. We'll have to make arrangements for you next month."

Eric frowned. "I thought I was like you..."

"It would appear you are both..." She smiled at him. "I didn't even know that was possible."

He stared at her with wide bloodshot eyes. "Cool." He sniffed and wiped his nose again. He looked at the shredded bits of shirt in his hand. "Puberty sucks."

"Yes it does." She laughed. Cindy saw the sun sneaking over the tops of the buildings outside. "We should get some breakfast. An empty stomach is no way to start a sunny day." She pointed at his shirt. "You should probably change."

"Yes ma'am." He smiled brightly at her and ran up to his room.

Well that was unexpected. Cindy decided she needed to call him. But it had been so long since they last spoke...


	2. Morning

THE KNIGHT

Hughes had called for a break once the search lines met up in the middle of the forest. The search had been going now for hours, everyone needed some time to rest. This was starting to look like a lost cause. They had gone from town all the way to the north edge of the forest and stopped in the northwest where the trees started to thin and go up the mountain. They planned to loop around and hopefully meet up with the other half of the search party in the west so they could all head back to town together.

Hughes was picking some bark off a tree when he saw a man off in the distant shadows. No, not a man. He could see a long tail trailed behind it. It was looking right at him. 

This has to be the wolf-man... or a really good costume. 

The maybe-creature stepped out of sight.

"Hey!" He hollered at it.

Hughes made it to where he saw the creature last swiftly but there was nothing around. He looked up into the trees and the creature was looking down at him, its eyes glowing from within the shade. "What the-"

It leapt across to another tree. Hughes followed it from the ground, listening for the sound of shifting branches. It was heading west. Three of the nearby police officers, one with a dog, tagged along on the pursuit. They got to the last place Hughes heard the creature and stopped.

"What was that thing?" One of the officers asked as she caught up.

Hughes was breathing heavily. "I have no idea."

The fed looked up at the trees, the branch hopper nowhere to be found; not even a rustling leaf. He stepped forward, the officers in tow, some still looking up where he had before. All were searching for any hint at a direction to go. The german shepard in the party was testing the air trying to catch a scent to follow.

The shepard barked. What could be a partial footprint lay sunken in the soft ground at its feet. It breathed in the scent and they were on the trail, all five of them following it further up the mountain. The trees were getting more spread out as they followed the trail. The temperature started to drop further and dried blood began popping up here and there. Evidence that they were on the right track. The dog suddenly stopped and Hughes soon realized why.

Sitting on the jagged edges of a small runoff was a young man. Cuts and bruises scattered his bare chest and arms while his pants were torn up so raggedly it was almost indecent. He was rubbing his hands together mechanically, eyes wide and distantly staring. There was an old scar on his lower right side shaped like the bite of a large animal.

Hughes slowly drew his gun. It rested in his hand pointed at the ground. "I'm FBI Agent Hughes. I need you to get on your knees and put your hands behind your head."

The man turned toward him, his irises almost completely white. Slowly he shifted on to his knees.

Without warning the man lunged towards them with a growl. Hughes pulled his gun up as he jumped back but taser prongs impacted the attacker's chest in the same moment. The man fell back to his knees as the electricity ran through his body. His limbs twitched slightly before he raised his arms and grabbed the wires attached to his chest.

His eyes began to glow a hot white and static was coming out of his skin. The shepard was barking like mad but wouldn't get any closer than when they first found the man. The officer holding the tazor yelped and dropped the device. It crackled and sparked on the ground. The animal-like man pulled the wires out and dropped them then locked eyes with him. Hughes trained his gun on him. As he lunged again a bullet left the chamber and went straight through his leg.

The attacker made an awful sound as he fell, landing on Hughes. He could feel the electricity coming from the man, stabbing his skin like hundreds of needles. The agent quickly scrambled away on the ground as fingers full of lightning clawed for him.

Fresh blood seeped into the damp yellow grass, and the static faded from his body. The man continued to wail as the other two officers were on him with cuffs and batons ready. After a cautious touch, they secured his wrists with three sets just to be sure.

The dog was whimpering near the officer who was tending to her hands, burnt from the taser. What a day and it was barely morning. Agent Hughes pulled himself to his feet. He was ready for his vacation now.

THE QUEEN

Wave found her roommate, Marci, amongst the curious eyes near the edge of the forest.

Sometime in the first week at the dorm, in the beginning of the year, Wave had her monthly rendezvous with the moon. Marci caught her sneaking into their shared room that morning. In a panic she told Marci that she goes for jogs early and didn't want to wake her. So every morning since then she has gone for a jog, which the wolf in her seemed to like, so it ended up being a win-win. She just had to be sure to leave some spandex in the woods for the morning of hairy nights.

"Did you go for a jog with this shit going on!?" Marci asked surprised.

"Yeah, no I had to, uhh, change my route. Took forever to find a path not blocked off…" And now I'm lying again...great. "There are a ton of police out there, what the hell happened?"

"Oh my God, you don't know?" She wrapped her arms around Wave. "Some literal monster crashed a party in Parkvale and killed a bunch of people. Even the news is saying it may have been a werewolf, you know, a real one."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah, it ran into the forest before anyone could call the police. He was heading this way but they lost track of him. I'm so glad you didn’t get hurt." Marci pulled away but held on to her arms. "Jessica was there. She's at the hospital right now 'cus she got scratched by it."

Wave didn't know if that would turn someone. All she knew was that she herself was bitten on that awful night a few months ago.

"On a happier note, classes got cancelled until after spring break. There were only two left anyway. But, hey! No last minute assignments!"

The search party began to emerge from the forest.

Trailing behind them was a man Wave recognized. "I'll chat with you later, I gotta go." she said as she darted off. Marci shouted a quick protest, but it was too late.

"Lark!" she yelled, hoping he would hear her.

He did, on the second try, and adjusted his course toward her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him in a quick embrace.

"Visiting my little sister for spring break." Larkin looked very tired but smiled at her anyway.

She returned the smile. "That's not for a couple days. You're early."

"Yes, well, I wanted to take care of a few things, which didn’t happen."

"I'll bet...did you find the bad guy?"

"Yeah, we found the 'bad guy'. They took him back to Parkvale, which is where I'll be heading after I wrap things up here." Larkin paused to look at her up and down. "Are you wearing spandex?"

"Yes." She replied blatantly.

"Since when?"

"Since I jog in the mornings now."

"Not this morning I hope." He gave her a weird look. "I'll treat you to breakfast... I have a surprise for you, but after today I don't know if it's a good idea."

She was going to respond but he cut her off. "We'll talk more over breakfast, I have a report to write up… see ya there."

He left her to catch back up with the police.

You didn't tell me where, genius.

Wave suddenly remembered her clothes were ‘stolen’ from the police earlier. She headed back to her dorm to change, if for no other reason than to hope he didn’t recognize them.

THE KING  
Hans had been chopping wood for the heater since he had called his son. It was likely the killer was one of his, for he had the largest pack in the area.

Liam didn’t do it. Hans was hasty in thinking his son was involved. He wasn’t the sharpest, but he was a good boy. Well, a good man.

A car pulled up to his house behind him. Two doors opened and closed followed by footsteps coming towards him that could be heard crunching the sparse leftover snow.

He set another log on the tree stump in front of him and swung his axe. The wood easily fell into two pieces.

“Excuse me, Mr. Ulrich,” a voice said.

Hans turned to face them. Two officers were stopped about ten paces away. Officers? What were they doing here? They couldn't actually think he was involved with their case in any way, could they? Unless they knew… Best to play nice and find out.

“Morning, how can I help you ladies?”

“I’m Officer Gladstone. This is Officer Pershall. We were wondering if you’d be willing to answer a few questions for us?” They looked a bit nervous. Hans noticed he was still holding what could be a perceived weapon and thusly wedged his axe in the stump with a casual swing.

“Of course. Shall we get out of the cold first?” He gestured towards his cabin before grabbing an armful of wood and leading the women inside.

He told the officers to make themselves comfortable and asked if they would like a hot beverage while he made a fire. Coffee was the mutual drink of choice so he started a pot on the wood stove. He shed his coat and sat in his chair across from the officers on the couch.

Pershall had a notepad and pen ready in her bandaged hands. Gladstone eyed the coffee pot.

“So, what can I do for you?”

Officer Gladstone spoke. “For the sake of protocol, telling us your name would be a good start.”

“Yes, of course.” He chuckled and told them.

Pershall scribbled notes gingerly.

Gladstone continued. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there was a handful of people murdered last night.”

“Yes, I heard it on the news. I don't really understand why you're here to tell me though.”

“Indeed. A suspect who attacked some officers has been arrested. He appeared to be on his way here. We were wondering if you knew him.”

Pershall handed him her phone from under her notepad. A photo of a young man with many cuts was on the screen.

He frowned. “Oh, Jon.” A stray his pack picked up less than a year ago. How disappointing. He was one of the kindest kids he knew. Hans wondered what drove him to such an act.

The two officers looked at each other.

“So you know him?” Gladstone asked.

“Yes, he’s…” Hans trailed off. He handed the phone back to Pershall. “Jon Nguyen. He was an...employee of mine.”

“Was?”

“Well, if he’s the killer he’s no longer employed. I obviously didn’t know him like I thought I did. The Jon I knew would never hurt anyone.”

“He seemed… not well. Was he behaving any different than usual lately?”

“I haven’t seen him much the past few weeks, now that you mention it. That is a bit unusual in itself, I suppose. Most of my-” He stopped himself, it was necessary to choose his words carefully in the present company. He got up and poured three mugs of coffee. 

“I see most of my employees on a regular basis, but his work was still getting done so I thought nothing of it.” He dispersed the mugs and returned to his seat.

“What was his job?” Gladstone asked before taking a large gulp of coffee.

“He was the grounds manager; kept the snow off of things it shouldn't be. He was tending more to the grass lately though.”

He could see the gears turning in Gladstone’s mind. Her eyes landed on him and the next thing she said caught him quite off guard.

“What do you believe about werewolves, Mr. Ulrich?”

His eyes widened. He couldn't help it. He stood there in silent thought for what he hoped wasn't too long. “That’s a peculiar question, Officer. I didn't think the law would be interested in...fantasies from books and TV shows. I was surprised to even hear the theory on the news.”

"Yes. Well… we have reason to believe they are not purely fiction. At least to some degree.” 

She continued to study him. Hans began to sweat, convinced she hadn't bought his dismissal of her question. If they had evidence that werewolves ‘might be real’ she was just doing her job by questioning him about it. Lying was not his thing, though he might have to. Problem was he couldn’t think of a good bullshit story on the spot like this. It would be too obviously made up now, he took too long to think about it. The truth was almost just as bad though, and it would draw all sorts of unwanted attention and expose his kind.

Was it unwanted? Publicity might not be that bad, actually. Inconvenient, sure, but this might just be the boost my resort needs to get back in business. With recent events, werewolves will be exposed soon enough anyway. Why not have a wolf to defend the majority while they prosecute the killer? It might do some good in the long run anyway.

Gladstone seemed to have given up on her staredown, drawing some conclusion from his limited response.

No longer under Gladstone’s scrutiny, Hans found the nerve to continue. “I’m not sure what you expect me to tell you. Even if what you're insinuating might be true, and I’m not saying it is, why should I trust you?”

His comment was returned with two expressions of mild shock. 

Gladstone regained her composure first. “We are willing to consider anything relevant to the case, as long as we can get the facts to back them up.”

The officers shifted uncomfortably as they watched him think about his response.“Yes, well, I don’t know how well what I have to say will be received. Before today you’d have laughed me out of the room, or locked me up with some crazies.”

"Today, everything is being questioned.” Gladstone's look of suspicion was almost perfectly concealed. 

Pershall didn't even try to hide hers.

“I hope I can answer some questions for you then.” He let adrenaline fill his veins and his eyes began to glow a golden yellow.

Gladstone jumped to her feet, her empty coffee mug landed sideways on the floor. A gun from her hip was pointed at his chest. Not the standard issue taser the officers in Parkvale normally carried. “I’m going to need to take you to the station, Mr. Ulrich.”

“That’s fine.” His eyes continued to burn gold but he raised his hands in submission. “No need for the weapon, Officer. I'll come willingly.”

He stood and Gladstone tracked his movement despite his compliance. Pershall hadn’t drawn her weapon but she had her hand over her holster. They were nervous and, since they were probably attacked by a werewolf just a few hours ago, rightfully scared.

He held out his wrists to her. “You can cuff me if you like. I won’t hurt you but I expect you will be cautious." He then looked directly at Pershall. Glancing down at her bandaged hands he said, "I'm sorry he hurt you, most of us aren’t so bad.”

Pershall walked over behind him slowly with Gladstone never lowering her weapon. His eyes faded back to light brown as she cuffed him.

They put him in the back seat of their patrol car and made haste to the station.

“I have a question for you ladies, if you don’t mind.”  
Gladstone eyed him in the rearview mirror.

“What did you mean when you said he wasn't well?”

The officers glanced at each other and pondered an answer.

"He seemed possessed and his eyes glowed, kind of like yours but white."

Pershall added so quietly he almost didn't hear, "And empty."

"I see…" He locked eyes with Gladstone in the rearview mirror. “May I call my son?”

THE ROOK

Fed finished his paperwork and was speaking to a handful of officers in a conference room about the ‘prime suspect.’ The killer was in Parkvale, being tended to by an EMT. The hospital there was a madhouse so they just left the two at the police station. 

Addie wandered into another hallway   
The agent looked at his watch and barked a few orders. As the officers settled into their roles, the Fed left. He didn’t seem to know anything more than the others about the situation, but his timing was too perfect. Addie wanted to make sure it was, in fact, just a coincidence he was here.

Hunters didn't come around Parkvale, he made sure of that a long time ago. But Missoula was not far away. If Fed was one of them he could be a threat to the community of wolves in the area. Better to intervene if there’s just one than try to deal with reinforcements. But he had to be sure. A missing Fed was not taken lightly by the government and they were a special kind of problem he had no desire to deal with.

He followed Fed to a diner where he sat at a table in the back corner away from the majority of people. A waitress came over to him and he waved her away. He pulled out his phone and punched something into it; likely texting someone.

Addie removed the officer's uniform shirt he had borrowed and followed him in. He sat on the opposite side of the room. A waiter came over and asked him what he would like to drink. 

“Hot tea, please.”

He was careful to make no move suggesting he was even remotely interested in the man across the room. Pulling out a notepad and pen, he began to sketch the waiter.

Not a minute later, one of the girls from the forest arrived.

The one that saw him...and then chased him. 

She stopped for a moment inside the door. Her eyes skimmed over all the faces in the room, including his. He didn’t look up at her. 

Did she follow me here somehow? But that's not possible...

The agent stood and smiled at her and she joined him. She must have been the one he was talking to at the edge of town earlier. How did he know this girl? More importantly, did he know she was a werewolf?

The Fed and wolf girl talked for some time, and ate, and laughed, and ate some more. Nursing his third tea, Addie was very bored. The waiter had seen his drawings and tried to have a conversation with him about art. Sam, according to his nametag, asked if fine art was his major. He belatedly noticed that the diner was incredibly close to the university. Addie had to explain that he was not a student.

While listening to their conversation, he learned that Fed’s name was 'Larkin' and the wolf girl was his sister, 'Wavey' he called her. He was here to visit her for spring break to take her to the ski resort they went to as kids. Hans’ resort. It was out of season for the sport, but he thought hiking up to the old mine would be fun. Larkin was very skeptical as to whether or not they should go after the events of last night but 'Wavey' very much wanted to go.

It appeared Larkin the Fed was unaware of werewolves 'potentially' being real before today as the wolf girl seemed cautious of that topic when it briefly came up. It was very unlikely that he was a hunter.

Larkin’s phone rang and he lifted it to his ear with a frown. “This is Hughes.”

Hughes. Of course. How could I not see it before?

No more information was wanted or needed about them. He decided to head to the station in Parkvale to see how the case was developing. He left money on the table that, if his math was correct, was enough to cover the bill with a decent tip. He also left the sketches since Sam the waiter seemed to appreciate them. 

Addie couldn't help but glance back at them as he exited, only to find the Hughes girl looking directly at him.


	3. Noon

##  THE HEIR

Liam woke up on the couch. He must have fallen back asleep after getting up so early when his dad called. The TV had gone back to its usual program. A banner ran across the bottom with random updates and ‘Tune in to channel 6 for more.’

As he recalled, the media was freaking out about the werewolf attack his father was harassing him about. Maybe they were finally going to be recognized by the public. Not the best way to do it, but it’s not like he had a hand in the matter. Liam flicked the TV to channel six and they were buzzing about the captured suspect.

He looked at his phone. It was at twenty percent with four missed calls and three voicemails. One call was from his dad and the others were from an unknown number. Someone really wanted to talk to him. He dialed the voicemail and put in his password. He listened to its little speech.

‘ First message. Sent today. At. Seven. Fifty-Four. AM. ’ it said in its automated voice.

A woman spoke in the message. ‘Hey, Liam, this is Cindy. I know we haven’t spoken... in about twelve years… but I kinda need your help.’ She sighed and there was a long pause. ‘You have a son. And I think you should meet him. I never planned on telling you since I found out after we broke up, but he just woke up with shredded clothes this morning. I really need you to call me back, please.’ It clicked at the end.

' To delete this message- ’ Liam hit  END to cut it off.

He sat there and stared at the phone.

_ I have a son? And I didn’t even know!? _

_ And the boy is a werewolf! Unfortunate… and Cindy wasn’t entirely human either. The boy would be eleven now. That’s about the time he’d start to change. Damn.  _

_ I never expected to be a father… ever. And now I have a son. Or had for a while… but now I know. _

He didn’t know the first thing about being a dad but God dammit he would try. What should he do? What if the kid didn’t like him? Or worse, what if the kid liked him?

There was only one way to find out. He punched  CALL on the number with three missed calls.

It rang almost its full cycle before Cindy answered.  “Hey, I was starting to think you weren’t going to call me back.”

“Hey, yeah, uhh sorry about that. I was asleep… You still have my number?”

“Well, no, I… found it...” She paused awkwardly.  “You got my messages?”

“I listened to one, yes.” He wasn’t sure what to say.

“Oh… well I forgot to mention in the first one he is also a vampire like myself. Have you heard of that happening before?”

“Oh shit. I mean, yeah. I’ve heard of it… sort of.”

“So…” Cindy said.

“So?”

“When would be a good time to get together? I mean if you even-”

“Oh. Right. Of course. Uh, today would be fine. If that works for you guys?”

“That’s perfect.”  There was a long pause before she continued. “How about lunch at McDonald’s? Noon sound alright?”

“Great. Awesome, I’ll see you there.” Liam hung up in his excitement. He was going to meet his son! Scenarios ran through his head. What would he think of him? What had his mother told him about his absent father?

Liam went to his room to make sure he had something clean to wear only to find endless amounts of dirty clothes. He threw a decent shirt and pants with minimal holes in the washer then added all the underwear and socks he could find. He topped it off with an armful of shirts. The work clothes would have to have a load of their own and be washed twice at least. Grease was stubborn like that.

He returned to his room and stretched over the bed to reach his phone charger on the wall side. After plugging in his dying phone, he lay there thinking.

A werewolf vampire hybrid… he didn't even remember what that was called, but it was a super rare condition. Both parents had to be born vampire and werewolf. Two species that didn’t commonly get along anyway. He knew very little about it but his uncle probably knew a lot more. Liam would have to call him later.

He remembered the other two voicemails. One of the remaining two was from Cindy. Probably something along the lines of 'oh I forgot to mention.’ The last one might be the product of the missed call from his father.

He called the voicemail again and let it do its thing. He deleted the first message he already heard and listened to the next one. It was as Cindy described and he deleted that one as well.

The third was his father.  “Hey son, sorry to bother you again. I’m on my way to the police station in Parkvale but I’m not sure how long I’ll be there. I might be under arrest until things calm down, it’s hard to tell right now but I intend to help with the case. I’d appreciate it if you’d check on the resort. Tschüss.”

“What the hell, Dad.” Liam said in exasperation.

##  A PAWN

Officer Lisa Gladstone was sitting across from Hans Ulrich at the desk in the deputy sheriff’s office. A bored expression on his face as she questioned him. “So, you’re a werewolf.”

“Yes.” Ulrich said again. He was starting to sound like a broken record.

“The surviving victims, are any of them going to turn into werewolves?”

“Only if they were bitten, and it has to have been bone deep. A scratch won't do anything worse than maybe get infected.”

She sighed with relief. At least there was some good news today. They could release most of the quarantine. She pointed at Nguyen in the interrogation room through the glass. “The man in that room, Jon Nguyen, is a member of your pack?”

“He forfeited that the second he killed someone.”

“But he was before.”

“Yes.”

“And the electricity. That’s not a normal ‘power’ your kind have?”

Ulrich’s eyebrow twitched before he answered. “If someone has any magical affinity it gets lost when they become a werewolf.”

_ So magic is real too. What else might be lurking out there? What other horrors were real? _

Officer Brown came into the room and handed her a note. She frowned at it. It came from the man tending to Nguyen’s condition. “He’s dying. Brain matter is leaking out of his head… Do you know of any way to cure him of whatever he has? The medic is at a loss.”

“Lycanthropy is technically a disease and normally one infected with it can’t get sick, we run too hot and heal too quickly. There has to be something preventing him from healing.”

“Like what?”

"Silver usually… But from what you're saying it doesn't sound like just simple wounds. Maybe a curse? I’m not an expert on the hocus pocus stuff but it could be some combination of those.”

Gladstone and Brown exchanged a look. They knew they didn’t have much time to come up with a better option. Today was bad enough by itself, the last thing she needed was for her prime suspect to die in the interrogation room of something nobody could explain. “Would you mind taking a look at him? Just in case you see something we might not think to notice?.”

“Couldn't hurt, I suppose.”

They entered the room. The medic was padding Nguyen's face with a damp cloth. Brown went back to his post in the corner of the room, just in case he attacked again. Nguyen’s eyes were milky white and focused on the wall across from him. His body was rigid, ready to strike. The cuffs wrapped in rubber which she hoped would survive another electric episode, should there be one.

“Oh.” Ulrich said in disgust while covering his nose and mouth with his hands. “That’s rancid.”

Gladstone sniffed the air. It didn't smell great in the room but it wasn't particularly horrible.

“This… isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before.” He turned Nguyen’s head to the side and some goo dripped out of his ear. 

_ Gross _ .

"The sedative didn't work." The nurse mentioned.

"That is not surprising."

The medic looked at Gladstone and she nodded for him to continue. "He got real upset in the ambulance, broke his cuffs twice before they brought him here. The hospital was too crowded."

Ulrich inspected the suspect as he spoke. “There's something wrong with his mind. And these wounds aren't festering like ones from a silver weapon. Magic has to be involved, otherwise these cuts would have fully healed by now.” 

"So can we break the magic curse or whatever the hell it is?” She asked with a bit more sarcasm than she really felt.

“I’m afraid I won’t be as much help as I had hoped, this is well beyond my expertise. This isn't some simple curse or silver fever. You need someone who understands more about magic.”

“Great. I’ll just call Harry Potter.”

Ulrich gave her a strange look and left the interrogation room. 

Gladstone followed him down the hallway. “Please tell me you know someone who can help, Mr. Ulrich. You're the only hope Nguyen has right now.”

“You really need a wizard.”

“Where might one find a wizard?”

“There's bound to be one in the city.” He looked defeated. “Problem is, I don't even know where to start. I really wish I had a better information for you.” He stopped and appeared to be deep in thought. “Actually, I know a guy… sort of. He’s my- uh, neighbor.” Ulrich said distastefully. “I briefly thought he might be involved in this, and that it was perhaps his idea of a prank, but this magic seems a bit destructive, even for him. He might at the very least be able to point you in the right direction.”

“Your neighbor is a wizard?”

“Of sorts.” Ulrich said with a shrug. “He’s not human- My resort is actually named after him.”

“So… he’s a wendigo?” Gladstone asked. She remembered the tailed creature she and Pershall chased through the forest with the FBI guy. "Those are real too?"

“That's what they say. I don't trust him, though.”

“And yet you want his help?”

“Did you have another option in mind? Because a minute ago you didn't.”

“No I-” She stared at him for a moment. “Alright. How do we contact your wendigo?”

“I have his phone number.” Hans pulled a flip-phone from his pocket and showed it to her, as if the answer should have been obvious. Who in their right mind would assume some mountain monster had a cell phone?

She read the contact info for ‘The Wendigo’ on the screen.

“It’s up to you if you want to call him. I will not talk to him. He might help you, but he could just as easily make this case hell with his games." He stared at her intently. “Or you could just try your luck at finding a wizard in the city and hope they know something relevant to Jon's condition.”

_ Mr. Ulrich is really uncomfortable about this guy.  _ “How likely is he to help?”

“I wish I knew. It’s a gamble.”

They stood there in silence as she thought about it. What other option did she really have though? What were the chances of her finding someone with the required skills to help with this case? Looking toward the interrogation room made the decision for her.

They headed back to the office and dialed the number on speaker.

The call was answered but whoever was on the other end didn't make a sound.

She looked at Ulrich and he nodded to her. She took a deep breath. “This is Officer Gladstone with the Parkvale Police Department. I was wondering if you’d answer a few questions for us?”

The silence continued. Gladstone was starting to wonder if there was someone on the other end when he finally spoke.  “How did you get this number?”

She locked eyes with the man in question. “Mr. Hans Ulrich said you could help us.”

“ _ Ah. _ ”

Gladstone regretted answering him so quickly and thoughtlessly when Ulrich's expression changed into a scowl.

“Your killer is under a curse of influence, if I'm not mistaken. You should have Mr. Ulrich retrieve the  _ bonding totem _ for your sick pup.”

He hung up as she asked: “The what?”

Ulrich looked angry. “He already knows. Maybe he is involved after all.”

Gladstone let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “At least he was willing to help.”

“Or he's toying with us.” Ulrich growled.

“What was that last thing he said, bonding totem? What is that?”

“They were used in the old days to… accept someone into a pack. They aren't really used anymore, but I don't understand why we would need it.”

“You have one then?”

“Of course.”

  
  


##  THE BISHOP

Cindy and Eric arrived at the local McDonalds about ten minutes early. She told him that they were having lunch with his father and Eric had been nearly buzzing out of his skin ever since. He was much more excited than she thought he’d be. He had stopped asking about his dad a few years ago. She never told him much else than his name and what he looked like.

They sat at a table by the door to wait for him before they ordered. Eric proceeded to ask if just about every man who walked through the door was him.

Cindy didn’t realize until then that she was nervous too but for completely different reasons. She was beginning to regret the decision to involve him. The thought of possibly raising their son together gave her chills. They never should have been together to begin with. She had no idea if Eric would have been better off never meeting him. Mostly, she didn’t want her baby getting hurt.

Then Liam walked through the door.

“That’s him. That one’s definitely him.” Eric said. “He looks just like you said.”

Eric got up from his chair and walked over to him. “You’re Liam Ulrich?”

He smiled, “You must be Eric.” He said while looking the boy up and down. “You’re so big. Much bigger than I thought you’d be. You’re in eighth grade?”

Eric puffed out his chest. “No, sixth.”

“Oh, my mistake.” He chuckled

The three of them ordered their food. Liam insisted on paying. At the beginning there was an awkward exchange between Liam and Cindy but otherwise a comfortable get-together. Eric really seemed to be happy and Liam seemed to be very excited as well as nervous. They suffered through some small talk and got about halfway through their meal before the topic came up.

“Will I have wolf powers along with my vampire powers?”

“Kinda, none of them are exactly  _ powers _ , and I don’t know as much as I would like to. I read a book when I was about your age about someone like you. I believe you will have a mix of characteristics from both conditions but honestly I don’t really remember much.” He pointed at Eric’s belly. “I believe your diet will be a bit more flexible though. That burger of yours should actually give you some nutrition even though it’s cooked.”

Eric looked at his burger in bewilderment. “Awesome,” he whispered as he took another large bite and concentrated on chewing it as though that would make it more likely to assimilate into his body.

Cindy let Eric and Liam do the talking. She didn’t have much to say anyway. She saw a familiar car roll up and slowly pull around back. While the boys discussed their interests and munched on fries she excused herself.

Some people at a nearby table jumped in their seats when she got up. It occurred to her that they were probably eavesdropping and heard a little more than they bargained for. With all the werewolf crap on the news this morning, they would actually take what they just heard a bit seriously. Yesterday they would have thought they were just weirdos or playing a D&D game of sorts.

“Where ya going, Mom?”

“I’ll be right back, dear.”

She walked towards the bathroom but diverted out the door and around the back side of the building. Someone in the drive thru gave her a dirty look as though she was cutting them in line as she walked through.

When she walked up to the white Subaru, the driver rolled his window down. “I'm glad I saw yer car here. You weren’ at yer house this mornin'. There’s a bit of a situation.”

“Is calling me too difficult?”

“I thought we weren’ s'pose'ta say anythin' on the phone.”

“I meant to set up a meeting.”

“Oh, I could'a done that…”

She crossed her arms with a scowl. “Next time text me first. You’re already here now, what’s up?”

“The shipment got ‘cancelled’ this mornin’. We were seen but everyone was in a rush 'cause of the attack so nothin’ really happened. Yet. If anyone were to question what we were doin’ we might have some problems, 'specially with all the werewolf talk.”

“That’s annoying. But yeah, that would definitely have been an issue today.” Cindy chewed her lip. “Did you get any to the vehicle before the chaos started?”

“Not much, only three boxes.”

“Damn, we’ll have to try again in the next couple days. I’ll get back to you later once I set up another pickup.”

He nodded as he rolled up the window. As he pulled away she walked back across the drive thru. She walked in front of the same car that was in the same spot and still glaring at her. The line hadn’t moved. Sucker.

She went back inside and returned to their table. The boys were still talking. They were discussing how soccer and football share roots and debating which is the better sport.

The next blood shipment will have to be set up for friday at the latest. This morning upset the usual delivery schedule, but they should have enough for today and tomorrow. Best to keep the local vampires fed so they don’t get exposed as well.

  
  


##  THE KING

Hans and Officer Gladstone had ran back up to his house by the resort. They entered his Opa's old shop, he never truly made it his own, and began sifting through the collected odds and ends. 

“What does this totem even look like?” Gladstone asked.

“Well… A big stick.”

The search began fruitless. However, he did find his opa’s gas mask from World War Two along with other items that belonged to him cluttered up the surrounding area. An old picture was jutting haphazardly out of a journal. A line of combat boots along the visible edge of the photo.

Curiosity drove Hans to pull it the rest of the way out. On it was a man that looked like his son Liam; his opa as a young man. His eyes looked sad but determined, standing with five other men, all in uniform. To his left was another man who Hans would recognize anywhere. Hans didn’t know  _ he _ had fought in the war with him, for Opa never talked about the war.

“Is that your father?” Gladstone asked.

“My Opa...Grandfather.”

She squinted at the picture. “Oh.”

“My son looks a lot like him.”

“Genetics are interesting like that.” She pointed at the man standing next to him in the photo. “That guy looks really familiar. Another relative of yours?”

“He’s-” Hans didn’t know if he should tell her, but what else would he say? “the one we called earlier.”

She processed that for a moment. “So, your Wendigo was a soldier too.”

“He is in no way ‘mine’.” He responded dryly. 

Gladstone had taken the photo to examine further. He wasn’t sure what she thought she would find. “I wish this was of better quality.”

“Time is not kind to photographs...”

“Do you know if he hangs out in Parkvale much?”

Hans frowned.

“You must really not like him. You make a face every time he gets brought up.”

“Well, you do continue talking about him. No one ever believes me when I tell them not to trust him. He’s been a so called 'family friend’ for longer than I've been alive, but he's always given me the creeps.”

“Ask him for help but don't trust him. Maybe I should have just tried my luck in the city. What makes this old man so untrustworthy?”

Hans shifted a pile and found what he was looking for. “Ha! There it is.”

Gladstone made a sound of approval as something hit the outside of the shop.

Hans flew outside and stopped about halfway between the door and the edge of the forest. When he turned around he saw a makeshift javelin, probably fashioned from a small branch, stuck to the side of the wall with a glass jar hanging from it by some rope. Tinted clear liquid with a blue pulp like substance floating around in it.

“Very funny!” Hans yelled to the woods. “You better not be on my land!”

Gladstone looked understandably surprised when she popped out of the door. “What happened?” She looked when he pointed at the still swaying container next to the door. “What is that?”

“A gift from  _ him, _ if I had to guess.” He huffed.

Her eyes got huge. “He’s here!?”

“Somewhere.” Hans walked over to the dangling jar. “Looks to have some wolfsbane in it. Neither of us should touch it. Probably not even the jar, just in case. Do you have any gloves?”

“Somewhere.”

Gladstone rummaged through the cruiser and returned with a plastic bag. She turned it inside out to put the jar in without risking it making contact with her skin. She cut the rope with a pocket knife once she had a good hold. “You don’t care that he was following us?”

“I do, but I can’t exactly stop him. At least he’s helping… I think.”

She tied the plastic closed. “So we have this... _ stuff _ and the totem, but what do we do with them? Should we call him again? Or go find and ask him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“If he wanted to tell us more he would. And he isn't one to go looking for. If you want to stalk the stalker on his turf, be my guest. But, if you drop off the face of the earth don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

They got back into the cruiser. “You’re not going to help me then?”

“Not with that, I like being on the face of the earth.”

Disappointment showed on her face. “Oh come on, you’re sure it was him?”

“Without a doubt.”

“Do you at least know where I can start?”

“Here, apparently,” he gestured to their surroundings. “Maybe even eavesdropping from anywhere within a half mile or so. He could also be back up the mountain by now.”

-

The drive back to Parkvale was silent except about halfway back Gladstone said, “I’m going to find the wendigo. He’s suspicious enough to at least question. Do you have a more current picture of him?"

"He looks the same, he's always looked the same."

"How could...Is he a vampire?"

Hans paused at that. "I suppose it's possible."

-

When they returned to the police station they were met right inside the doors by a wild eyed man who was in desperate need of a shave. His clothes were more mismatched than shabby but a good washing wouldn't hurt either if the smell was anything to go by.

“You! You're the ones I need to see!” He exclaimed, pointing at Gladstone and Hans.

She took a step back, unintentionally into Hans, and grew tense. “And who are you?”

He produced what looked like an incense stick from his coat. “I have what you need. The missing piece!” He thrust the stick into the air.

Hans and Gladstone exchanged glances with the woman behind the desk. She had the annoyed look of someone who had been pushed beyond her allowance of patience for the day.

Hans felt something inside him snap. “Hey, wise guy, the lady asked you a question! Who the hell are you?”

The strange man focused his attention on him then. “One does wonder…” He approached them.

“Sir-” Gladstone started.

“Henriks! That's what they call me!” He said suddenly as if he had just remembered.

“Right…”

“I was sent to help you! With your-” he leaned very close to Gladstone and spoke in a hushed tone. “ _ -werewolf _ problem.”

The way he said that rubbed Hans the wrong way.  _ Is this crackpot a hunter? _

"Sent?" She questioned. "Sent by who?"

"The great creator, of course!"

“Right...and how is it you will… help us?”

A wicked grin formed on Henriks face. “I am a warlock! And I have been granted the knowledge of the cure ritual!”

Hans and Gladstone exchange another look.

“Great!” She finally said. “At this point, I'll take what I can get.”

They headed to the interrogation room Jon was in. Hans held the totem in one hand and his nose in the other. Jon smelled worse than before, if that was even possible.

As they all filed in, the interrogation room was officially crowded.

“What are you doing?” The medic asked them.

“Saving his life.” Gladstone replied. She held the bag with the jar in her tiny gloved hands as if her life depended on it. Then as an afterthought added quietly to herself. “I hope.”

Henriks circled the table Jon was tethered to, taking in his new surroundings. He bumped into the medic during one of his passes then plopped into the chair across from Jon. He began emptying his pockets onto the table. 

The medic looked just as confused as Hans felt, but at least he wasn't trying to stop them. “I'll be out-”

“No!” Henriks practically shouted. “Stay.”

The young man eyed him but did as he was told.

“You must do exactly as I say.” Henriks said while lighting his incense sticks with a match.

The three of them made sounds of hesitant compliance.

Henriks positioned everyone around the room. Hans with the totem next to him. Gladstone and the yet to be named nurse were behind Jon with the concoction from the wendigo. He then explained to them what the ‘ritual’ would entail. Hans wasn't particularly thrilled but he didn't want Jon to die if there was a chance he could help save him.

“Does everyone understand what they need to do?”

They collectively nodded.

Henriks began murmuring something that sounded like latin. His blue eyes began to glow.

Hans reluctantly bit his own hand and let his blood drip into the totem. _ Need healthy werewolf blood my arse...This better work. _ He then watched the medic make a cut on Jon's arm to mix with his in the totem.

The totem began to produce a smoke that swirled into the wafts of incense. Hans could barely breathe between that, the disintegrating brain in Jon's head, the wizard in need of a shower, and all the other bodies crammed into the room. 

Supposedly from Henriks continued murmurs, which were basically chanting at this point, the smoke surrounded and entered Jon through his nose, ears and mouth. When it was all inside him, Henricks nodded while maintaining his chant, Gladstone held Jon's head back and the nurse poured the contents of the jar into his mouth. Jon didn’t seem to react much less swallow.

Henriks’ eyes stopped glowing when the chanting ceased. They all waited in silence.

“Did it work?” Asked Gladstone after what seemed like an eternity.

Before anyone could respond, Jon inhaled suddenly and deeply. His eyes widened and he snapped the restraints that kept him bound to the table, the violent movement landing him on the ground between Gladstone and the medic, coughing up blood and some of the concoction he swallowed while thrashing on the floor. The three of them kneeled down to hold him still.

Hans looked at Henriks who was still seated at the table with no more than a casual interest in the events on the floor. 

“Is this supposed to happen?”

Henricks shrugged.

A woman entered the increasingly crowded room, thanking the officer that allowed her through. She was wearing a nice suit and carried a briefcase. The two on the ground with Jon stared at her, a bit confused. Henriks just sat there smiling like an idiot.

“Hello, my name is Warden Evangeline Rourke from the Kincaid Maximum Security Prison. We would like to hold your prisoner for you.” She paused and waited for someone to respond but no one did. “We have been working on some cells, custom designed for oddly specific abnormalities that I think might suit your situation perfectly.”

“We haven’t even confirmed he is the killer yet.” Gladstone said much more calmly than she looked. “How do you- the details of this case haven't been released yet.”

Rourke smiled at that. “I have my sources. I also know he attacked officers of the law. My offer is simply for your personal safety. You would be more than welcome to see him for interrogations and such at any time you please, of course.” Her smile broadened. It almost looked genuine.

Jon groaned and turned onto his side, still trembling a bit but no longer coughing up blood. Or leaking brain goo for that matter.

  
  
  


##  THE KNIGHT

Larkin Hughes loved his sister, but lately she worried him. She had been acting strange since he came to see her, had she always been so distracted? It had been about a year since he actually hung out with her aside from holidays with the whole family. Once they got close to the resort she has been particularly spacey.

"What's that?" Wave asked suddenly.

"What's what?"

“Stop the car.”

“What? Right now?”

“Stop!” She yelled, jumping out of the still moving car as he slowed.

“Wait!” Larkin parked the car off to the side of the road, hopefully not getting it stuck in the continuous pile of half melted snow lining the road, and chased her.

She was marching deeper into the woods away from the road. He caught up to her and slowed from his jog to her stride. “What’s wrong?”

“I saw it, for just a second.” she was intently looking at something ahead of her.

“I didn't see anything...”

She trekked on in silence to stop at a large tree. It had raised bark that she began to examine.

There appeared to be a bit of metal in it. “That’s...weird.” He said.

Wave peeled off some of the bark to reveal more metal. The tree had grown around it, whoever put it there did so a very long time ago. She continued to scrape at it then, slowly revealing the rest of it. She pulled the bark away gently as to not damage the tree more than necessary.

Not the traditional medic symbol, Caduceus. The snakes looked more dragon-like and the wings were a part of the skeleton of an eagle-like bird atop the staff. Two swords crossed behind the skeleton’s back.

“It feels...weird.” Wave almost whispered. She traced her fingers over the symbol as she studied it.

“You’re freakin’ me out, Wave, we should head back to the car.”

“Just come here for a sec.”

As he walked closer he could feel goosebumps form on his flesh. It wasn't due to the temperature outside, for it really wasn't that cold. The sensation was almost warm. He waited next to her, uncomfortable but curious.

She took his hand and pressed it to the metal in the tree. A tingling sensation filled his fingertips and he quickly pulled his hand away.

“What the f-” He gingerly reached toward it again. “What is this?" 

When he touched it for the second time, he realized he could feel it almost humming. It was as though the symbol was being powered by something. But then what was it doing out here anyway? What needed power?

Larkin met Wave’s gaze. 

"I don't know but-" She grew nervous. “Right, we were heading to the resort, we should get back to the car.” Wave started heading back.

“Whoa, hold up!” He stopped her. “You’ve been acting weird ever since I got here. What’s up with you? Are you on drugs or something?”

“No! I’m-” She looked away from him. “I can’t- just- I- don’t...” She trailed off.

Okay, so Wave wasn’t ready to talk to him about whatever it was, though he had suspicions. Her abnormal behavior suggested  _ something _ was up. Their family had a small history of mental illness. Aunt Brundy would talk to nobody sometimes, and their older brother killed someone, whom he said was planning to kill someone else. He was hearing voices, the doctors concluded. Hopefully she didn’t have whatever ran in the family, at least not as bad... Larkin just wished she would open up to him.

They used to be so close. She would hopefully tell him when she was ready.

“Okay,” he pulled her into a hug. “You can still trust me, you know, even though we haven't had the chance to talk much anymore.”

She pulled away from him slowly. “I know, I just- I don’t know how-”

“That’s okay, you don't have to tell me. Just know I’m here for you. You can call me anytime, for anything.”

Larkin’s phone rang.

He sighed and retrieved the device from his pocket. “It’s work.”

She looked a bit sad.

“I should take it.” He said to her. 

Wave showed no sign of actual protest.

“This is Hughes.” He said into the phone.

“Hughes, I have a favor to ask.” It was Jansen.

“You want me to take the werewolf case.”

“Th- yes. It’s developed into quite the ordeal, there’s too much information leaking out to the public right now. I need you to take control of the situation before it-” The call dropped.

“Shit,” he breathed. Jansen will be pissed about the call dropping but it’s not like he intended to hang up. Larkin looked toward Wave, who had been listening. “I have to-”

“I know, you have to save the world.” She rolled her eyes and smirked. “We’re close to the resort. You can drop me off there and I’ll hold a cabin ransom until they let you have at least a day off.”

“You sure? I can take you back to town with me. There’s much more to do there than pretend to board in this sorry excuse for snow.”

“I’m sure, but I like this sorry excuse for snow, it isn’t too cold. There’s also something I want to check out up here.”

He gave her a worried look.

“I want to see if there’s more.” She pointed at the freaky tree.

“Alright. Just don’t do anything stupid without me.”

She smiled then. “I’ll try but no promises.”


	4. Afternoon

##  THE HEIR

It went well, in Liam’s opinion. Better than he could have hoped. The boy was big for his age and smarter than he ever dreamed of being when he was young.

Eric had almost black hair like his but with a reddish hue like his mothers. He had most of Cindy’s features but his build was definitely more like his own. His eyes were black like a normal vampire, no trace of gold in them from his wolf blood. He’d be a handsome man one day if he grows into those ears he got from his grandpa, Hans.

Liam was invited him to Eric’s next soccer game, and Liam said yes. He regretted it later, thinking he was probably making things harder for Cindy. Liam desperately wanted to make up the lost years in any way he could but he didn’t want to impose on either of them. The worst part about it was he couldn't even help with the situation the boy was suddenly in. What could he do anyway?

His uncle would know.

Liam flicked through his contacts and found the number.

It rang for too long and kicked over to voicemail so he hung up before the automated voice told him the mailbox wasn’t set up.

He paced on his patio for a bit. Not wanting to look at the couch he tore up last night.

_ I could call my father. No I can’t; he’s at the police station and probably can’t use his phone. Grandma might know something. Or maybe Mother- _

Liam’s phone rang.

“Hey.” He said a bit exasperated.

“You alright, Lad?” Asked his uncle.

“Yeah, no, uh. I have a kid. A son.”

There was silence for a bit.  “Congratulations.”

“Heh, thanks. I um- I need your help. Mostly just information.”

“Sure.”

Liam sucked in a shaky breath. “My kid's half vampire. His mom only called me because he turned last night and she didn’t know what to do. Problem is I don’t either...”

“A Pyrewolf… Let's see, he’ll need to make sure he feeds before the full moon. Losing control would be rather disastrous… The boy will need to keep both of his natures satisfied and in check.”

"Right...great. Anything else?”

“Not really, but it’s important his affiliations complement each other. If he falls into the habits of the bat it could upset the wolf. Same goes the other way. He needs to find a balance that works for him. He cannot neglect one or the other or he will lose control of both.”

“So basically I need to teach him how to be a werewolf but let him be a vampire whenever the mood strikes.”

“In essence, yes.”

“I’ll get to spend time with him, which is great...But what if I screw up? What if I’m a bad father?”

He sighed,  “You’ll do fine, Lad. Take the time to get to know him, show him you care. Teach him what you can and let him figure out the rest. That’s all any parent can do.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Liam took a deep breath, “Thanks, you always have the best advice.”

“Not always.”

“Heh, I’ll keep you updated on how it goes.”

“I look forward to it.”

Liam hesitated. "Can I- Can we hang out? Soon? I know you're busy right now… I just-"

“Sure.”

"Cool... Hey! Do you still have that book about the er-pyrewolf girl?" 

"Moonblood?"

"That's the one."

"I have it somewhere, I'm sure." 

"Would you maybe be willing to lend it to Eric?"

"I'll look for it."

"Hey, thanks. I'll uh, talk to ya later then. Tschüss.”

“Tschüss.”

  
  
  


##  THE QUEEN

Wave tossed her bag onto the couch in the cabin, she’d deal with unpacking it later. She dug into it to find her overcoat because it might get colder later.

She kept her backpack on. It had her thermos, a few snacks, aluminum blanket, a flint/pocket knife that her brother got her for christmas one year, a little makeshift first aid kit and bear spray. Never forget the bear spray. If she was going to be wandering around in the woods, she wanted to be prepared for anything.

Stepping back outside, she let the nostalgia wash over her again. When she registered for a cabin the staff were overly friendly. Probably eager for the business. The place seemed deserted aside from the workers.

It wasn’t quite how she remembered it. The Wendigo Resort used to be the place to go when she was little. When she was in grade school, just about all of her classmates spent at least a week here over the summer. Some even came out for holidays throughout the year. Back then it always seemed to have the perfect weather no matter the season. She wondered what had changed.

Speaking of change, what was in that tree she found in the way here? She'd never felt anything like it. Magic? Bugs? The latter would be disturbing. But was magic even real? It was definitely possible, likely even. It had to be magic of some kind that turned her into a wolf once a month.

Month, oh.. That other monthly thing will need to be addressed soon as well.

Wave walked over to the little convenience shop to buy a few select items she had forgotten in her dorm. The clerk was very nice and told her if she needed anything for cramps she would give her a discount since everything was ridiculously overpriced up here on the mountain. Something about her seemed familiar, but Wave dismissed it for her similarities to her best friend from school.

She thanked the clerk and left, wandering into the gift shop next door to see if they had anything she never noticed as a kid, or perhaps something new. It had been about ten years after all.

The shop had that little cabin feel, just like she remembered. There was the wall of shirts and jackets with the Wendigo Resort logo on them. Some mugs surrounded a display in the middle of the shop with other drinkware. There were also thermoses that matched the battered one in her bag. Teal was a new color while hers was a forest green that must have been discontinued.

She sifted through the shirts with funny phrases and a few slightly morbid puns.

Ice To Meet You

It’s All Downhill From Here

Board to Death

Live to Ski

Winter is Here

Don't Rock the Mountains

Chill Out

and her personal favorite:  Snow Way Out Alive

She found some stuffed bears, moose and mountain lions as well as elk, caribou, rabbits, foxes and the most important: wolves. The top was little wendigos, or at least what they were thought to look like. Perhaps those were real as well. She wondered if bear spray would work on a real one or if she needed special wendigo spray. Upon further investigation, the tiny monster looked a bit familiar from this morning...

She grabbed the fluffy white toy and took it to the clerk. Wave was partial to the wolf, but her niece would love the little namesake of the resort. Tally had begged to come here ever since she heard her and Larkin's stories of when they were kids. Perhaps when the snow started falling she’d take a week off school to bring her up here. As long as there wasn't anything particularly unfriendly in the woods.

She made her purchase and turned to leave right into the shoulder of someone. “Oh! I’m so sorry.”

“No no, my bad. I've been told I walk quiet.” He smiled at her. “We don’t get a lot of guests this time of year, especially since we haven’t had snow in a while.”

Something felt wrong about him. The energy he gave off made her uncomfortable and he smelled weirdly familiar like the girl in the shop.

“Yeah uh, I just wanted to get an early start and scope out the best hiking routes before it gets too crowded.”

“Oh, you’re here to hike? That just so happens to be my favorite pastime.” He was flirting with her; but the vibe was all wrong.

“That’s nice.” She said quickly as she slipped around him. “Maybe I’ll see you out there.” Wave raised a hand in goodbye as she went out the door with her stuffed wendigo.

She exited the gift shop only to find three more men outside the door. They were large and muscular, the biggest one was in the middle.

Wave pulled out her bear spray, wielding the stuffed gift in her other hand as if it would do damage if necessary. “What the hell is this.”

All three of their eyes glowed a shade of yellow. The one on the left with long hair spoke up. “You’re in our territory.” He tilted his head to the side. "And you're not one of ours.”

She froze, a bit confused but mostly terrified. 

Then it clicked. Werewolves. They were  _ all _ werewolves. 

Turning around to see through the window of the shop, the clerk and the guy were staring at her, their eyes glowing as well. She hesitantly turned back to the three in front of her, tense and thinking of every possible outcome. She couldn’t fight them off, there were too many.  _ I have to escape somehow. Could I even outrun them? Maybe... _

The girl from the first shop stormed out behind them wielding a bat, her eyes blazing yellow as well. Wave just about ran for it as she approached but the girl smacked the guy in the middle across the back of his shoulders, the bat exploded into splinters. 

_ What? _

“You guys are such jerks!” She yelled louder than necessary.

The guy she hit turned around, unphased by the strike. He's big but, damn. “She’s a wolf. Probably from another pack.” He turned back to Wave, pointing. “Probably sent here to spy or something since our Alpha is away!”

“Don’t be stupid! You’re the one blabbing unnecessarily!” The girl growled. “Besides, she’s our only guest! You will all treat her like a queen! I will call Hans if I have to!”

The men exchanged some glances and reluctantly dispersed back to wherever they came from.

The clerk approached her. “Hey, sorry about that. Those hotheads don’t know what’s good for them.” She held out her hand to shake. “I don't think I properly introduced myself. I’m Kay.”

She was still clutching the spray and wendigo so she tucked the toy under her arm to shake Kay’s hand. “Wave.”

She smiled. “That’s an interesting name. Short for something?”

“Yeah, I was named after my grandma Waverley."

“That's so sweet! It’s very nice to meet you, Wave. What pack are you from anyway?”

“I’m not- I don’t have a pack.”

“Oh wow, really? How long have you been a werewolf?”

She paused to think. “Since right before the school year. End of August.”

“That’s impressive, most people need the support when they first turn; to tell them what to prepare for and such.”

Wave took a breath to shake off the last of her nerves. “I've had time to adjust a little. Figured out a few things the hard embarrassing way... You guys are actually the first other werewolves I’ve met.”

“Oh my gosh! I’m so honored! They are too, they just don’t know it yet. The guys just get paranoid with Hans being away.” She gestured in the direction that two of the men went. “Well, if there’s anything you need just let me know. And here’s my number just in case,” she pulled out a piece of scratch paper and scribbled on it. “Especially if they try to harass you again.” Kay handed it to her.

“Oh, thanks.”

“You’re welcome to hang out in the store. We can chat or whatever.”

“Actually I kinda have a thing I was going to look into. Maybe another time? I’d love to hear about how it is being in a pack.”

“Oh good! But what sort of thing?”

“I found a weird tree earlier. I want to see if there’s any more. Do you know anything about it?”

She blinked. “A weird tree?”

“Yeah, it had metal in it. Silver, I think.”

“That’s weird for sure.”

“I found it a few miles outside of the village. This is going to sound crazy... but I think it had magic in it.”

“Weird… I wonder...” she looked thoughtful.

Wave couldn’t hide her excitement now. “Wonder what?”

“I think it might be from when the wendigo still lived here.”

“There really is a wendigo?”

“Yeah, he's the last one. He used to keep the snow perfect year round. Opa said he kept it here with magic. I was really little when he stopped hanging around, but from what all the older pack members say, I know it has never been the same since.”

  
  
  


##  THE ROOK

Addie was feeling anxious about staying much longer in the police station. There were many officers wandering around so he had to be careful who saw him. It would have been preferable that no one saw him but there was only so much he could do about that. Hence the re-borrowed uniform.  _ Thank you, T. Rikert, whoever you are. _

Henriks left after they gave Nguyen the cure. He seemed to be doing just fine until he tore open the medic's arm in an outburst. Warden Rourke sedated him, much to the nurse's annoyance, and put him in specialized shackles from his briefcase.

Rourke had made an impression. Hard to tell if it was a good one by the look of it. She stood there with a fake smile and watched the officers argue about what to do with the man that she had restrained for them.

Reading lips was such a hassle. But there was too much ambient noise in the building to hear anything distinct.

‘I think we should let him.’ said the officer facing Addie’s direction who was previously guarding the door.

He could see the officer that Hans was hanging around, Gladstone, in a reflection on the door. 'Why, why don’t we just keep him here? He’s restrained now.’

'They will not hold him for very long if his condition changes again, but the cell will hold him perfectly,' said Rourke.

'Confidant of that, are you?'

Just then Agent Larkin Hughes walked through the front door. _ What is he doing here? He was supposed to be with his sister. Was she here too? _

She made Addie uneasy so he took off to look for her, but she didn't seem to be around. He returned to his 'hiding spot' but everyone had moved except Rourke bandaging up Medic Boy and Killer Nguyen in his new shackles.

He found the ones he was looking for, and most of the others that were previously milling about, in the room with all of the white boards. He easily hid nearby since the halls were now deserted.

Larkin Hughes was talking "-structed by my superiors to take this case. I would appreciate the full cooperation of your force, especially once my team arrives. Since I wasn't planning on sticking around, I could use a refresher on where we are at."

One of the officers shifted forward. "The DNA and forensics confirmed Jon Nguyen is our killer."

Hans spoke next. Was he officially consulting on the case now? "Gladstone and I have cured him of whatever was making him sick. According to our contact, it was a curse of influence."

_ You’re welcome. _

"What is that supposed to mean?" Asked Larkin Hughes.

"Magic, he was under the influence of some kind of magic." Answered Hans.

"So not only are werewolves real, magic is too?"

"Well, yes. Lycanthropy itself is technically a kind of magic disease."

Larkin Hughes rubbed his temples. "This just can’t be simple, can it?"

An officer near Gladstone and Hans spoke but Addie couldn’t see his face. "The quarantine has been released on all of those who were scratched or have only shallow wounds."

"Well that’s good, one less thing to worry about. And they were all checked for symptoms before being released?"

"Of course."

_ Great, one more potential problem. _

He had to do something.

Addie dialed Hans’ number.

Everyone in the room stopped and looked at him when his phone went off. Hans stared at it a moment. "It’s him." He said to Gladstone. Addie waited for him to answer. 

Larkin Hughes leaned forward. "Him who?"

"Hans’ contact." Explained Gladstone.

“Hello.” Hans answered the phone.

“Ich möchte mit allen sprechen. Bitte.”

Hans sighed and pulled the device away from his ear. “You’re on speaker.”

Addie could see he had the attention of the room through Hans’ phone.

“Who the hell is this?” Larkin Hughes ordered.

“You may call me Digo.” Addie responded.

“Mr. Digo, you are the one who gave us the cure for Nguyen?” Inquired Gladstone.

“I am.”

“And then trespassed on my land.” Hans retorted.

“Ich habe nicht.”

“Don’t you-”

Addie cut Hans off to address the officers. “I realize you didn’t know you were taking advice from someone who doesn't actually know anything, but the quarantine should have never been released.”

“Perhaps if someone mentioned-” Hans started again.

“Hans is correct in that there is no worry for anyone becoming a werewolf from the attack. However, the curse is extremely transmittable. Symptoms might not present themselves for a while yet.”

“So all of them are infected?” Inquired Larkin Hughes.

“That’s a safe assumption. You should retrieve them before they start spreading it. The curse could spread as easily as the common cold. Make sure your scratched up medic is quarantined as well. In the meantime, I will continue working on a cure for the rest of them.”

Gladstone piped in again. “That ritual and jar of death wasn’t the cure?”

“It was. But that cure only worked for Nguyen. Everyone he infected will need something not so...specific. I will need a day, maybe two.”

“You were sure quick to pick this up. How do we know you’re not jerking us around? Or perhaps you set this all up because you were bored?”

Sure, Addie liked to play games but he knew now was not an appropriate time. Hans just couldn’t resist accusing him of something apparently. “ Nicht jetzt , Liebes. Die Erwachsenen sprechen.” 

Addie watched in amusement as Hans' eyes began to glow. It was just too easy to get him riled up.

“Behandle mich nicht wie ein Kind, das ist ernst!” Hans growled.

“Ja, es ist ernst, aber Sie helfen niemandem, indem Sie sagen, dass dies meine Schuld ist.”

“Wie sollen wir deine Absichten kennen?”

“Das Gezanke ist süß, aber können wir uns auf den Fall konzentrieren? Bitte?” Larkin Hughes said casually as he picked at his hand. 

Hans was at a loss for words. Addie was a bit surprised as well.

“Larkin Hughes, you’re just full of surprises. How fun.”

The man was visibly uncomfortable that he knew his name. “ Agent Hughes, if you please .”

“Very well, Agent Hughes.”

Hans nearly yelled.  “Don’t you start playing your stupid games and- and messing with their heads!”

Addie ignored his comment. Hans was making it next to impossible not to have some fun. “I’ll be in contact when the cure is finished. You may call me if you need anything else before then, Agent Hughes.”

“How do we know if we can trust you?” Agent Hughes asked.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t trust me, for I trust none of you.” He hung up.

Addie watched them. Agent Hughes looked at Hans "Why does it feel like we just spoke to the Devil?"

_ Not quite. _

Addie left. He had to finish that cure.

  
  
  


##  THE BISHOP

Someone knocked on the door.

Eric was down the stairs and opening it just as Cindy stood from the couch. He was getting faster by the day.

“We have a bible, thanks, though.” Eric said to the visitor. He closed it and turned towards her with a big grin.

They knocked again.

“I got it, Bud.” She told him. He moved to stand by the door and she opened it.

On the other side was a professionally dressed woman. “Incindia Krim?”

Cindy crossed her arms. “Yes, and who are you?”

The woman put her hand out to shake. “Helen Gruchy, I was hoping we could speak for a moment.” She eyed Eric. “In private?”

“Uh, sure?”

Eric got the hint and mosied back up to his room. Cindy stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

“Walk with me.” Helen stated. She walked away from Cindy, who hesitantly followed.

“Am I supposed to know who you are or something?”

“No, but I know who you are. My associates and I have been trying to figure out who our competition was for quite some time. Today we found you, Ms. Krim.”

Cindy felt her stomach sink. “I don’t know what you’re implying but-”

“Please, don’t. We know you’re the mastermind behind the charity blood. Why do you do it anyway? The stuff you give away isn’t even good, it's expired.”

Cindy thought about how to respond to the woman. “Not every vampire can afford your prices to eat on a regular basis. My colleagues and I simply give the lower class something to get them by so they don’t starve. Unless they are to start eating people?”

“Hmm, I see. Most vampires have a friend or two who give them blood occasionally, but I didn’t think there would be any who didn’t. This is a real issue if there are that many.”

“Yes it is. There are actually quite a few I know of who have no outside blood source aside from animals they may or may not find. 

“That’s disgusting.”

“That’s why I do what I do. Is that a problem for you high class bloodsuckers?”

“Yes it is, actually.”

“Figures. Why would you care about younger vampires?”

Helen stopped at the corner of the street and Cindy nearly walked into her. “Like yourself?”

Cindy glared at her.

Helen brushed invisible dust off of her sleeve. “I would like you to work for me.”

“I… I don’t understand.”

“You have insight into a business opportunity no one is willing to admit is a real problem, and we lack a qualified contact at your hospital. If you join us, you won’t have to sneak around anymore.”

“I won’t starve my clients.”

“We’ll keep a form of your program, perhaps Drakon could start ‘disposing of’ expired blood for hospitals as well. Same concept you have but legal. We would disperse it in the same places we sell the regular stuff, but discounted to prices you choose. Two birds.”

"Sounds like you just want more money lining your pockets. I wont charge for the expired blood.”

"We are a company, Miss Krimm, of course we will have to make  _ some _ profit."

"Fine. What's the catch, then?"

“You will be employed by us, you will do as we say, and you will set up blood drives at your hospital for the company on a monthly basis.”

“I want to be in charge of the expired blood. I don’t want you jacking up prices. Ever.”

“We’ll see what the board says, I don’t even know if they’ll accept the terms but they will if they know what’s good for them… I'll contact you with a proper offer in a few days. I just wanted to see if you'd be willing to join us.”

"I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask."

They shook hands and parted ways.

As Cindy walked back to the house she teased the thought of this actually working out. She really couldn’t agree to it if they didn’t let her run her own 'department’ or whatever they might call it.

If an agreement was made she would play their game and set up the blood drives, that was easy enough, but they were not going to charge a cent more than she would allow. Also, they’d have to put a policy in place that the well off vampires couldn’t drink up all the cheap blood just because they decided to overindulge. Most probably wouldn't even touch it, but who knows.

She would write out a business plan to present to this 'board’.

Cindy opened the door only to find Eric pressed to it. He almost fell onto the floor when he stumbled back.

They stared at each other for a moment, She wasn’t sure if he was able to hear anything.

“What did the business lady want?”

Cindy sighed with relief. “She offered me a side job... of sorts.”

“Are you going to do it?”

“I don’t know yet. I have conditions that she and her company will have to adhere to if they want me.”


	5. Evening

##  THE KING

As it turns out, there were multiple werewolf attacks across the nation similar to the one they had in Parkvale. Agent Hughes was leading the cases. Lucky for the university town that he happened to be in the right place at the right time to catch their killer before his brain melted completely. As much as Hans hated to admit it, Digo was a big help to that as well. 

Hughes had spent the early evening on conference calls and keeping everyone on task. With rumors spreading like wildfire and a quarantine to reassemble, the police in the town had their hands full. It was a shame most of the city cops had already gone back home. The extra hands would have been nice.

At least there was a cure for the victims in the making, supposedly. Apparently the lab in Missoula was working on a cure as well, but they had made no progress as of the last update. Hopefully Digo truly was helping them. Hans still wished he could do more.

The press conference was in five minutes. He was nervous. Agent Hughes said he would not have to speak and that he didn’t need to even be there. But Hans wanted to be there; put a face to the werewolf name that wasn’t a killer’s. Unfortunately his face, but if all went the way he hoped it wouldn't be so bad in the long run. He wanted to make sure werewolves didn’t get a bad name because some had been cursed. He felt the modern times would allow them to finally be accepted, especially if he showed that a werewolf was willing to help with the investigation of one of his own.

They exited the police station to meet a crowd. Cameras and their newscasters from every station had gathered, even one from the college. Behind them were layers of people who were speaking in hushed tones that began to fade as Hughes positioned himself behind the podium. Gladstone and a few other officers lined up against the station behind Hughes. Hans stood next to Gladstone, arms folded in front of him. This was going to be on tv. He wondered if it would be live, mostly because he felt like he was going to puke.

“Good evening, everyone. I am FBI Agent Larkin Hughes.” He waited for the murmurs to die off. “We appreciate your patience in letting us gather enough information before making a statement today. As I’m sure many of you have heard, this was not the only attack to happen last night. Across our nation there were a total of 34 alleged werewolf attacks. All of them in major cities except the one here in Parkvale. This leads us to believe this one was meant to be in Missoula. We are still trying to figure out the details on that aspect. I can’t speak for everywhere…but the attacker we had here was, without a doubt, a werewolf.”

The crowd exploded into an uproar, people screaming the questions they could contain no longer. Hughes raised a hand and patiently waited for them to calm down.

When the shouting faded, he continued. “It was confirmed by the local pack leader, Mr. Hans Ulrich, that the survivors of the attack were not infected with lycanthropy.”

Murmurs again. A handful of the crowd directed their gaze to him. It was to be expected.

“However, we did not realize until the quarantine was released that the killer, Jon Nguyen, was ill with a curse outside of his...condition.” The spectators stirred. Hughes was doing very well considering the situation.

“A cure is being developed, but in the meantime we ask that anyone who had any kind of contact with Nguyen during the attack please return to the hospital. As well as anyone you came in close contact with since. You will be released once vaccinated with the cure upon its completion. If all goes according to plan, everyone in Parkvale will be cured in no more than forty-eight hours. I know it's an inconvenience for many of you but we need to catch this before it spreads and becomes a real issue. We will also distribute the cure to the other infected cities once it’s finished.”

“What if it takes longer? What if it doesn’t work?” Someone shouted. There were some grunts of support for the question.

“If you could please save your questions until afterwards. I realize the discoveries today have taken their toll on everyone. I see this working out for all of us if we remain calm and continue to work together. The police force here has been invaluable in the absence of my team, and we wouldn’t have found the killer so quickly this morning without the reinforcements who volunteered from the Missoula Police Department.”

Hughes clears his throat. “Today I have learned that many things, which I previously thought were purely in works of fiction, are undoubtedly real: werewolves, curses and magic. I’m sure we have barely scratched the surface in our investigation and we continue to learn more as we dive deeper into this case. My team and I are working hard to find more answers, for we have reason to believe that someone is behind this. If anyone has information pertaining to this, we urge you contact your local police.”

The agent straightens his posture and pans over the crowd. “Now, if anyone has any questions, I will answer them to the best of my ability.”

Everyone began shouting. Hughes waited for it to simmer down.

The first to get their question heard was a man in the back. “Who would want to cause such chaos?”

“That’s what we are trying to figure out. We have a few leads to follow that will hopefully give us an answer.” Hughes replied calmly. He seemed to be slowly lulling the crowd into a less noisy state.

“What is going to happen to the killer?”

“He will be held in a special cell at the isolated Prison based on the other side of the mountains. The warden came to escort him there and informed me that they are working on more specialized cells due to this incident.”

Next was a girl closer to the front. “Hans Ulrich, the proprietor of the mountain resort, is a werewolf?”

Hughes nodded to Hans. “Yes, he has been consulting on the werewolf aspect of this case and put us in contact with a man who is familiar with this kind of illness or rather curse.”

“If it is not the fear of being turned into a werewolf, what concern is there about this curse?” Asked a reporter.

“It appears to affect the mind of its victims. It makes them extremely aggressive but basically melts their brain in the process, leading to permanent damage.”

“Only werewolves had the curse last night, how do you know it will affect humans?”

“Werewolves are humans that have slightly altered DNA. They do not get sick the same way we do. The only way they can get an illness is through magic, which we have been informed that everyone is susceptible to.”

“Aren’t officials working on a cure?” Asked another.

“Yes they are, but I believe the more magic knowledgeable people we have on our side the better.”

“Are there any more werewolves in the area?” Asked the lady from channel two news.

“Well, yes.”

“How many are there? And where are they?”

He looked back at Hans again, his brow furrowed. Hughes didn’t ask him about his pack or other werewolves, they were a bit distracted with other matters. He was glad he attended after all.

Hans stepped forward to stand next to Hughes. _Don’t throw up._ He took a deep breath before he spoke. “My own pack is the largest in the midwest of just under fifty members. I feel it is not my place to tell you who the individuals are. There are a number of other packs in the surrounding area that I know of but their numbers I could only guess at.”

"Is lycanthropy genetic?"

"It can be."

A younger man over to the left in the crowd started pointing at Hans and yelling. “How do we know he’s not lying!? Change for us!”

Murmurs cautiously re-enforced the demand.

Hans could do a half turn if the moon was out, but it was still too early in the evening. He also could drink his liquid moonlight, but that was only for emergencies. However, he wasn’t some circus animal here to perform. “Sir, a werewolf cannot turn whenever he pleases.”  _ Technically. _

The man only became more upset, two larger officers began heading in his direction. “I call bullshit!” He started yelling obscenities and other insults. Hughes nodded to the officers to escort the man away.

After the disturbance settled down the questions started back up. “What threat do you pose to ourselves and our families?”

“No more than you are to yourselves. We have lived among you for centuries. We are your neighbors, co-workers and friends. A violent werewolf is just as uncommon as an uninfected human who goes out of his way to harm others. I suppose it would be comparable to someone getting Hepatitis, they wouldn't suddenly become a different person, they just now have a virus. We are still people, and the majority of us want to live a normal life just like everyone else.” Hans remembered he should probably breathe.

"What about when you turn?"

"Turning does not change who someone is. The best way to describe the change is it's similar to a dream, you feel different than normal but you still have control of yourself in the most basic sense. Outside of this abnormal incident, during the full moon werewolves tend to stay away from public places, we know we are big and scary and don't want to terrorize our community. We generally will not attack unless provoked. In my experience, anyone would defend themselves if attacked, werewolf or not."

More murmurs spread throughout the crowd.

"You talk about Lycanthropy as though it's just a virus."

"It is, and it isn't. I compare it to one anyway because they also have no cure, but people learn to live with them as a part of their lives. Where most viruses weaken the immune system, lycanthropy kicks it into overdrive. It just so happens that this 'virus' has more… extreme symptoms."

“Have you ever turned someone into a werewolf?”

“No, I have never turned another. It is not a common practice.”

"How do you have such a large pack then?"

"Many members of my pack are adopted lone wolves, as well as family. We accept strays so long as they abide by our laws and customs."

"You have different laws?"

"We still follow the laws of our country and state, ours are just more specific. For instance, forcing someone to become one of us without expressed consent, is against our law. They are slightly varied from pack to pack, some to not allow those outside of family or marriage to join them. 

In Jon Nguyen's case, he forfeited his place in my pack by commiting murder. Although, our law does not specify anything about being under a curse, for it has never happened before. Due to the circumstances, it will be debated within my pack what the final decision of his standing will be. His prosecution, however, is in the hands of the state."

“Why have you been hiding for so long?”

“The attempt for my kind to be commonly known has occurred many times in the past. It has always ended in hunts after us and the unnecessary loss of lives on both sides. I came forward today to help with the investigation so that it wasn’t presumed all werewolves were killers. This is my attempt to take a step in what I believe is the right direction. I hope to someday see a time where we can live side by side as equals and comrades, instead of us hiding in the shadows.”

“Why wait until now to reveal yourself?”

Hans supposed he could have done or said something sooner but that was against their nature. Werewolves had always lived below the radar, except for the ‘happy’ few that got themselves crucified hundreds of years ago. He was already taking a huge risk for all of his kind by standing there and saying 'I am a werewolf’ today.

“Please forgive our hesitance, but understand that we all learn very young that keeping our secret is crucial to our survival. There was a time when we were killed without any trial for simply being ourselves. The fact that my head is still attached makes me believe that, as a society, we are ready to embrace the truth.” That was the best he could come up with. He hoped it was good.

“That will be all.” Stated Hughes.

The officers filed back into the station, Hans and Hughes followed them. The crowd roared with a mixture of applause, added questions and the newscasters addressing their cameramen. Once back inside, just about everyone sighed in relief.

“My boss might kill me.” Everyone looked at Hughes. “I was supposed to keep this under wraps but with everything that has happened, I believe it was better this way.”

There was silence among the group.

Hans was the first to speak. “Thank you, Agent Hughes.”

The man smiled at him.

Hans returned it and looked around at the others. “Anyone want to give me a ride home?”

“If possible, could you stay in town for another day? There’s a lab tech from Quantico who would like to examine you first thing tomorrow for a baseline to compare Nguyen to. If that’s okay, I mean.” Hughes said awkwardly.

“Oh, sure.” Hans was a little dumbfounded. “Just a ride to a motel then perhaps?”

  
  


##  THE QUEEN

Wave pressed her hands to the large tree. Nothing could be felt from this one either. She has had no success finding any more like the one she found on the way to the resort.

An uneasy feeling settled into her stomach.

She looked at the greying sky and thought it was probably time to head back to her cabin in the village. She picked her bag back up and adjusted it for her march back to civilization.

“What are you doing out here?” Said a vaguely familiar voice.

Turning around, she scanned over the man quickly. He was only a few feet from her but she never heard him approach...

"Minding my own business, as should you." She snapped at him.

He frowned at that. He didn't smell like a fellow wolf...or anything for that matter. Then something about the way he held himself clicked into recognition. “Y-You're...I met you in the woods this morning...And you were at the diner.”

There was a long pause before he tilted his head. “What gave me away?"

“Your voice, actually.”

"Hm." Was all he responded with.

“What are  _ you _ doing out here? Are you following me?”

"I live here. Why are you so far from the resort? This is wendigo country." His eyes wandered to the stuffed toy poking out of her bag.

"Don't judge, it's for my niece."

He quirked an eyebrow.

“I never saw a sign. Am I trespassing?"

"No."

He continued to stare at her, it made her uncomfortable.

"What is it?"

"It's not safe out here. There are…  _ things _ that lurk about the mountains at night."

"Like yourself?" She quipped. 

"Yes." He stated without hesitation.

She half regretted how rude she sounded, but the guy basically had her cornered out in the middle of nowhere and she didn't like that she was alone with him. "What were you doing in the woods this morning?"

"Making sure the search party caught the correct wolf."

"How? Or rather, why?"

"I don't see how that matters."

"What were you doing at the diner, then?"

"Am I being interrogated?"

"Yes."

She was starting to wonder if he would answer her when he suddenly spoke. "I may have been following someone."

"Me?"

"No."

"Who then?"

He didn't answer that time.

"Right." Why was he dodging her questions? Also, why was he acting so suspicious? Was he  _ trying _ to scare her? He'd helped her escape the police for some reason then followed 'not her' to the diner…looking completely different. He was surprised she recognized him, too. She was having trouble figuring him out.

Who else could he have been following? And why? She was more curious than anything, though he did make her feel on edge.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” She prodded.

“If you must."

“How do you do it? Change, I mean. You didn’t look... human before, but now you do.”

He pulled a necklace out from under the collar of his shirt. It looked to be leather braided through a fine chain, hanging off of it was a crescent moon. Within the charm were engraved designs and there were small symbols she could barely see along one of the bands of the leather. “It’s cursed to make me look human.”

“Looking like a human is a curse?”

“Curses come in many forms, not all bring harm.”

“What if a human puts it on?”

“It would probably be uncomfortable, but wouldn't do anything.” He tilted his head slightly. “May I ask  _ you _ a personal question?”

The way he asked made her hesitate. “Sure.”

"May I have some of your blood.”

Wave froze. Was that personal? It was definitely weird. How did he even plan to get it? Perhaps he planned to hurt her. But the bigger question remained. “Why?" Then she added as an afterthought, "Are you a vampire or something?”

“No. I would simply like to taste it.”

She hesitated, remembering his jagged teeth from this morning. “You're not going to bite me, are you?”

“If you don't have a problem with needles, I would simply draw some. If you were to let me, that is.”

He didn't say he wouldn't. The whole idea made her uncomfortable. Would he force her if she said no? He was definitely stronger than her, and probably faster. This was his home as well so he had the advantage in a chase. She felt something heavy growing in the pit of her stomach. Could she get away from him if she had to? 

“Can I say no?”

He narrowed his eyes, a look saying she shouldn’t need to ask that question. “Of course.”

He didn't look mad, or even disappointed. Wave relaxed a little.

“How long have you been a werewolf?” He asked.

It took her brain a moment to switch gears. “I uh- since the beginning of the year. School year I mean.”

“At least seven months then. And which pack do you belong to?”

“I don’t…”

He raised that eyebrow again. “A lone wolf. Have you adjusted well to your new life?”

"I think so… Were you on your way home or something?”

"I was."

"Why don't you go on your way then?"

"I could not, in good conscience, leave you out here alone in the dark."

"Right.  _ Things. _ I think I can handle myself. Besides, wendigos don't seem that scary." She gestured to the plushie in her bag.

He scoffed "Perhaps, though I'd rather not give anything the chance, just in case you find yourself...overwhelmed."

She watched him. He made no move towards her, or away for that matter. He didn't seem like he wanted to hurt her. Actually, he appeared to be concerned for her safety from whatever threat was supposedly lurking in the shadows. She couldn't say she wasn't starting to feel...watched before he showed up. With that in mind he was more awkward than threatening. Not to mention weird. Perhaps he just didn't know how to not seem creepy? He wasn't human after all.

With that in mind she debated how to interpret him. Screw it. Her curiosity wanted to talk to him more anyway, but she also wanted to get back before it got too dark. He would probably insist on escorting her anyway to 'protect' her from the  _ things _ he mentioned.

"Walk me back?" Wave started heading towards the resort. 

He followed. She briefly wondered if he was cold. If she didn’t have her coat she knew she’d be cold, even though she was a werewolf now. Perhaps he liked the cold.

“My name is Waverley Hughes. Most people call me Wave.”

“Most call me Digo.”

She frowned in thought. “That's just short for 'wendigo' isn't it?"

"Indeed."

“Do you have a real name?

“What makes a name real?"

"Okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

He studied her for a moment. “I like you Miss Hughes, despite your previously aggressive behaviour.”

She wasn’t sure how to take that. Wave thought about it and she  _ was _ fairly aggressive towards him during their first encounter. “Oh, yeah. Sorry about that...” She said, laughing a bit awkwardly.

“Addie.”

She turned to him, surprised. "Is that a nickname?"  _ Don't push it, you're lucky he told you that much. _ She scolded herself.

"It is."

“Well... it's nice to officially meet you, Addie.” She extended her hand to him with a smile.

They stopped and he offered her a gloved hand in return. It was incredibly warm despite the cold air.

“And you, Ms. Hughes.”

"Ew, don't call me that, please."

"Very well...Waverly."

They continued on their way.

"What sort of  _ things _ are out here anyway?"

"The clever or biting kind, very few are both. It's really the fae you have to worry about."

"Fairies are real?"

"Not the ones from children's tales, but yes."

Curiosity hit her like a train. “What else is out there? Are dragons real? Goblins? Gargoyles? Mermaids?  _ Vampires? _ ”

“Every myth starts in truth.”

“That’s…amazing. I wish they offered classes for this. Not just the myths but the  _ reality _ ."

“Perhaps they will someday.” 

Snow began to gently fall as the night continued. The sky had gotten very dark, with the only light coming from the moon. It reflected in Addie's eyes, even in the damaged one where the iris would be.

They stopped at what she presumed was the edge of wendigo country. When she asked why he stopped he simply stated he wasn't allowed any further but assured her it would be safe the rest of the way. Wave wasn't ready for their conversation to end so, in an act of defiance to an unknown power, she sat down in the thin fresh layer of snow. He did the same across from her.

"What are you studying?" He asked.

"I am going for a business degree. I've had a hard time deciding what I will do with it though. At the very least it will get me through doors. Maybe I could make a few of my own. Doors that is."

"Perhaps you should look into woodworking then?"

"What? No I- figuratively..." Wave stammered. Was that a joke? She supposed she didn't expect him to make one, he didn't seem the type.

Seeing his raised eyebrow had a smile growing on her face. Then she laughed.

The expression he then made confused her at first. His eyes creased similarly to when someone smiles, but his mouth didn't move. Perhaps he couldn't make expressions like normal people. Upon further thought, it made sense.

They sat and talked further about what she could do once she graduated, frustrations about her classes and professors, and anything else that became relevant. She found she was enjoying herself. He had a tendency to speak slowly but proved to be exceedingly intelligent. As the hours passed, her head grew heavy until her eyes wouldn't stay open any longer.

##  THE HEIR

It was dark and it was flurrying. Liam didn’t make as good of time as he planned. He got held up in Parkvale for a while from some ridiculous traffic. He figured he could check in to make sure all was well and head back home tomorrow. He had to be back in the city by tomorrow evening though. He had an early shift Friday.

He pulled up to the main building and got out of his old jeep.

Kay raced to him from inside and nearly slammed him into the car. “She never came back!”

Liam was still recovering from the unexpected blow. “W-who?”

She grabbed his shoulders. “Wave! The girl whose staying here right now! She's our only guest and she's missing!"

“Wh-how long has she been gone?”

Kay fell into his arms on the verge of tears. “Since about three. She was hiking. I started worrying about her after sundown and she’s still not back! I was going to go look for her but just about everyone is asleep. And Jeff and Liz have been on the phone all evening with everyone and their mom making reservations! I’d never find her on my own, there’s too much ground to cover and it’s been snowing.” She buried her face in his chest.

“No need to be so dramatic, I’ll help you look for her.”

“Oh thank you!” She threw her arms around his neck. “I knew I could count on you. I’ll grab my jacket.”

She ran back inside. He wondered how she had so much energy…all the time.  _ Youth... _

Once she had her jacket they headed in the direction Kay said this Wave girl went. They walked together until the trail forked, one path went to the old mine, the other was the scenic trail. Kay wanted to check the mine, thinking she may have been bored if wandering and decided to go exploring. She went that way and Liam followed the other trail. They agreed to radio if one of them found her.

He walked along the path, smelling the air for any hint of someone in the area. The night made the air colder and it burned his lungs to breathe it so deeply. Luckily, the snow gave up for a while. That would help.

After a few miles he saw a shrub with less snow on it than the rest. It was a wase away from the trail but it was the first possible clue he had found. Liam went in that direction for a bit in the hope of finding more evidence of disturbed wildlife or a scent.

A quarter mile from the trail he smelled something. Following the scent to a large tree, there was nothing particularly special about it other than it smelled faintly of a person. He had to be on the right path now.

He searched the surrounding area for a while and found the faintest indentations in the soft ground. Liam followed them.

He radioed Kay as he walked.

“Hey, I think I’m on her trail.”

“Oh great! Want me to meet up with you?”

“Nah, go ahead and head home. I’ll ensure she makes it back okay when I catch up with her.”

“Are you sure?”

“By the time you get way out here we’ll probably be back already anyway.”

“Alright, thanks again for helping out! Happy searching! Tschüss.”

“Yep, see ya. Tschüss.”

The trail weaved through the forest in no particular pattern. Straight for a long while, a sudden turn then straight for another long while. There was a point when they weaved in and out of some close vegetation.

Liam realized then that he was in wendigo country. Wave really wandered far from the resort. His uncle had a cabin out here somewhere. He used to run away to there as a kid when he was upset with his father.

The trail looped around and ended at the edge of the border for the resort territory. He could smell her, but there was no other out of place scent in the area. It appeared she stopped there, except she wasn’t anywhere in sight. There was no trail leading away from the area. He looked up hoping to find her lounging in a tree. No such luck.

He climbed up, perhaps he could find out which way she went in hope she started travelling through the treetops. Hopefully it wasn't  _ something _ that took her there. There was no misplaced snow other than what he disturbed. No scent either, where could she have gone?

Liam was upset, tracking was one of the few things he was actually good at. Maybe he wasn’t anymore, but how could she just disappear?

Actually, there was one possibility he could think of.

He checked his phone and he barely had a bar. Better than nothing… He dialed the number. It rang twice.

“Uncle Addie, sorry to bother you again, and so late.”

“What is it, Lad?”

“I uh… where are you?”

“At home, working on a project. Why, what’s up?”

“...Don’t you have an inspection tomorrow?”

“I have it covered. The werewolf situation seemed a bit more important.”

“Oh yeah, that. Hey, uh, the reason I called is I have a missing guest at the resort, her name is Wave. I followed her trail and she vanished in wendigo country. Do you know anything about that?”

“She’s asleep, in my guest room. I believe I exhausted her.”

Liam was taken aback. “Wow Unc, I’d have never guessed... I didn’t even think you liked humans.”

“Of course I like humans. Granted, usually from a distance.”

“I mean, she consented, right? You didn’t like...force her or kidnap her?”

"No. I don’t… think so.” There was a drawn out silence.  "I believe we are on two entirely different subjects.”

“Oh, you- so you didn’t  _ physically  _ wear her out?”

“We had a lovely chat. She dozed off about eleven.”

“Is she pretty?” Liam grinned as he said this.

Addie sighed.  “I find that topic inappropriate.”

“Hey, I'm just curious okay? You’ve never really shown any kind of interest in someone outside of the family or your job. She must be a really special lady."

“She is...something."

“And you've made it all the way to sleepovers in such a short time. Is she girlfriend material?”

"William.”

"Yes?"

"Don’t."

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Anyway, you have my permission to hang out with her at the resort tomorrow. If for no other reason than to keep Kay from freaking out about her absence. If my dad has a problem with that he can be pissed at me, he left the place in my care.”

"Hans is still not back?”

“Nope, he didn’t know when he’d be back last I talked to him.”

“...Do you know what happened today?”

“There was a wolf attack this morning, my dad decided he should help the police, and the big one! I found out that I have a kid.”

“All true. Your father also made it known to the entire world that he is a werewolf.”

Liam nearly fell from the branch he was perched. "Oh. Well that's...” he trailed off.

“Grandpa Hans might need rescued.”

“Oh right I have to tell him about Eric... What should we do? What  _ can _ we do?”

“Nothing at this time. Get some sleep, Lad. I have a feeling there will be few opportunities for rest in the foreseeable future.”


End file.
